1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to electronic keyboards, such as piano keyboards. More particularly, the present invention relates to large keyboards that are played by walking or dancing upon the surface of the keyboard.
2. Prior Art Description
In the 1998 movie “BIG”, the iconic moment that many people remember is when the star of the movie, Tom Hanks, plays upon a large floor piano. That floor piano was designed and built by Remo Saraceni in 1982, the inventor herein. Since the release of the movie “BIG”, Mr. Saraceni has been commissioned to build a variety of floor pianos for children's museums, children's hospitals, stores and institutions around the world. However, building a floor piano is far more complex than building just a large touchpad keyboard.
Early versions of floor pianos were devices that were set upon a floor. People only stepped on the floor piano when they intended to play the floor piano. This was problematic because the floor piano was large and required a large amount of floor space. The floor piano was too large to store away easily. As such, it was often just left in place and often became an obstacle to walking traffic.
Seeing the inconveniences of leaving a large floor piano on the floor, customers began to request floor pianos that were more portable, yet provided the same quality as a traditional Saraceni Big piano.
Due in no small part to the movie “Big”, several toy piano mats were marketed. These toy pianos mats where electronic touchpads that were decorated in the form of a piano. These touchpad mats were relatively small and could be folded or rolled up for storage. The touchpad mats contained sensors that were coupled to a sound generator. As such, when a person pressed on different points of the mat, different notes would sound.
Such toy touchpad mats may be fun in a child's bedroom, but they cannot be effectively used in a commercial space or public venue, such as a museum or toy store. Touchpad mats are small and slide on most floor surfaces. Furthermore, toy touchpad mats are too light to lay flat. As such, they must be taped down so as not to present a tripping hazard. Lastly, toy touchpad mats are made from thin sheets of plastic. Toy touchpad mats would quickly tear and there decorations wear away, if they were mounted in areas frequented by the public.
The present inventor has developed an improved floor piano that is portable, yet is designed to be placed on a floor indefinitely. The floor piano is designed to be tread upon by hundreds of people, while resisting wear. This improved floor piano keyboard is described and claimed below.